Ministry of Home Affairs set to launch web portal to register cybercrime complaints on a real-time basis

If you are a victim of online abuse and cybercrime, then here's something to help you.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly going to launch a web portal for victims to register complaints on a real-time basis. Banks have also been given access to this portal to mitigate cases of financial fraud. The portal will become operational from 10 January onwards.

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The report by The Hindu, claims that the portal has been set up on the directive of the Supreme Court to check the rise in online harassment and cybercrime. According to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), cybercrime has been rising at the rate of 21 percent every year, says the report.

You can also read our detailed analysis of NCRB's cybercrime data here. NCRB data has stated that Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, has the highest number of cybercrime cases and that only 30 percent of the cyber-related crimes reported in 2016 have had a charge sheet filed against them.

To tackle the rising problem of child pornography and rape videos online, a separate section on the website will be made where the crime videos can be uploaded anonymously so that further action can be taken.

“There are jurisdictional issues when it comes to trans-border crimes so the portal will have the provision of real-time reporting of such crimes. This will be helpful in cases where women face online abuse: they can simply upload screenshots of objectionable messages, videos and audios. The team in MHA will do the preliminary inquiry and forward the complaint to the concerned police station for necessary action,” said a senior Home Ministry official in an interview with The Hindu.

The report also says that the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked states to "set up cyber forensic laboratories with training facilities". The central forensic lab will be equipped with all the latest tools which will be stored on a cloud network so that state forensic labs can access them.

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